University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2005 The hiP losophy of the Face and 20th Century Literature and Art Bernard J. Rhie University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Art and Design Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Esthetics Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Graphic Communications Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons, Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics Commons, and the Theory and Criticism Commons Recommended Citation Rhie, Bernard J., "The hiP losophy of the Face and 20th Century Literature and Art" (2005). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1000. http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1000 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1000 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The hiP losophy of the Face and 20th Century Literature and Art Abstract This dissertation explores the importance of the human face in modern literature, philosophy, and art. "Meaning is a physiognomy," wrote Wittgenstein--quite literally, if somewhat cryptically--in the Philosophical Investigations. My project takes this remark seriously and begins, in chapters one and two, by reading Wittgenstein's discussion of aspect-seeing alongside recent work in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind in order to explain how we perceive mentality in the appearance of a human face. I then trace the surprising ways in which our ability to understand facial expressions informs not only the way we understand language, but also other minds and the concept of personhood itself. Chapters three and four extend these findings into an analysis of visual portraiture, focusing on the paintings of Francis Bacon. Regarding the sense of injury often associated with Bacon's violently distorted likenesses, I ask why such "magical" feelings arise at all with respect to images of human faces. Reading Wittgenstein along with Gombrich and Wollheim, I find that the mind naturally responds to images of faces as expressive of mentality: we not only see faces in images but also to an extent see the images as persons. My final chapter looks into the ethics of physiognomy, asking what difference it makes whether we see the mind as a private substance or, as John Ashbery has suggested, a "visible core." This chapter reads two narratives about faces that dramatize the solipsistic consequences of a Cartesian commitment to mental privacy: that of the faceless woman in Rilke's Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and the Magistrate's dreams about the tortured woman in Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians . I next consider Levinas' ethics of the face, an ambivalent critique of Husserlian phenomenology that tries, but ultimately fails, to escape this Cartesian predicament. In the end, the convergence of ethics and physiognomy may explain the face's importance to the modern imagination: perhaps, as Wittgenstein's writings suggest, faces grip us so because they call upon the same powers of pattern recognition that enable us to grasp the reality of other minds and moral values as well. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group English First Advisor Susan A. Stewart Keywords physiognomy, portraiture, twentieth century This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1000 Subject Categories Art and Design | Comparative Literature | English Language and Literature | Esthetics | Fine Arts | Graphic Communications | Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology | Other Philosophy | Philosophy of Mind | Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics | Theory and Criticism This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1000 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE FACE AND 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE AND ART Bernard I. Rhie A DISSERTATION m English Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2005 /I A 'J / : / ' s Y / Supervisor of Dissertation Graduate Group Chair Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COPYRIGHT Bernard Jaeseong Rhie 2005 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me straggle with the questions that animate this dissertation, so as I finish writing, I am delighted to have this opportunity to express my gratitude for their encouragement and support. My warmest thanks go to the four members of my dissertation committee. The deeply caring supervision of my adviser, Susan Stewart, has been so essential to my development as a thinker that without her I doubt this project would ever have been started, let alone finished. From early conversations we had about ethics and phenomenology to detailed comments she later wrote in response to drafts of every chapter, this dissertation and its author have benefited immeasurably from her involvement. In so many ways she is an inspiration to me, and I feel profoundly fortunate to have had a chance to work with her. I also feel lucky to have benefited from the deep learning and theoretical sophistication of Jean- Michel Rabate: his intimate familiarity with Continental traditions of philosophical thought was an invaluable resource as I grappled with some of the fundamental conceptual questions about language and subjectivity motivating this project. Bob Perelman’s warm heart and good humor always helped keep things in perspective, while his intimate knowledge of twentieth-century poetics enriched my own understanding of the complex social dynamics informing the writing and reception of poetry today. John Koethe, a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, influenced this project even before I met him: his excellent monograph on Wittgenstein helped me formulate the reading of thePhilosophical Investigations that I iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. present in chapter two. 1 was therefore delighted when, after we met at a symposium on contemporary poetics, he agreed to be a member of my dissertation committee. This project has benefited immensely from his expertise in Wittgenstein and analytic philosophy in general. Thinking of my four committee members, it’s difficult to imagine a group of readers more attentive, responsive, and supportive than they have been. That I knew they would be happy to look over whatever I sent them and quickly write back with helpful criticisms and encouragement made the arduous process of writing feel like an essentially intersubjective, rather than solipsistic, experience. For that, and for everything else they have done for me, I thank them. My good friend, Josh Kates, was not a member of my committee, but so generously and carefully did he follow and respond to the argument of this dissertation as it developed, that he played a role as crucial as anyone else to its successful completion. In numerous phone calls, face-to-face conversations, and email correspondences, I have benefited greatly from his profound knowledge of Husserl’s writings and the phenomenological traditions it gave rise to. Jen Fleissner also read through much of the dissertation as it came into being, and her friendship and unflagging faith in me have nurtured me along the way. Ilan Sandler and Joshua Margoiis read chapters one and two shortly after they were finished and provided encouraging feedback that was much appreciated. Cindy Port, Julie Crawford, Liza Yukins, Sari Gilman, and Alice Brittan have not read any of this manuscript, but their sustaining friendship was essential nonetheless to its composition. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I would also like to thank a number of professors, in addition to those who served on my dissertation committee, who have helped make my time at the University of Pennsylvania so intellectually and personally rewarding. The many teachers I have been fortunate enough to work with here have been just wonderful, as deeply humane as they are learned. Special thanks go to Margreta de Grazia, whose imperturbable faith in me helped see me through to the end. Other professors I would like especially to thank are John Richetti, Chris Looby, Stuart Curran, Harold Bershady, Peter Stallybrass, Mark Chiang, Jim English, Nancy Bentley, and Lisa New. For their support and for all that they have generously taught me since I first arrived in Philadelphia, I am very thankful. Family has been important too. For their patience and support over the many, many years it has taken me to get to this point, I want to saythank you to my mother, father, and sister. Mom and Dad, hooray: I’m finally done! And thank you also to my father-in-law, Buddy Schutzman, and my mother-in-law, Jan Schutzman, for their friendship and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Julie Schutzman. In ways both small and great, she has sustained me through both the thrilling and painful periods of the writing process. Julie’s love and patience have made this work possible. But more importantly, her presence in my